Daycare Worker Gets 7 Years for Abusing 12 Toddlers

A district court in Lod handed down a seven-year prison sentence to Shelly Sheinker, a daycare assistant convicted of systematically abusing 12 infants at "HaGan HaShakuf" daycare in Netanya. The children ranged in age from seven months to a year and a half.

In addition to the prison term, Sheinker must pay 300,000 shekels in compensation to the families.

Sheinker was convicted on multiple counts of abusing a helpless minor by a caretaker, assaulting a helpless person causing actual bodily harm, and aggravated assault. According to the indictment, she committed approximately 60 separate acts of abuse: pushing the toddlers, hitting them, slapping their faces, pulling their hair, and ignoring their cries.

The abuse escalated to kicking the children, pinching them, and gripping their faces forcefully. She would lift or drag infants by a single arm and hurl them with force, even while they were sleeping. In other incidents, she sprayed cleaning fluid toward the babies and dragged a chair across the floor, ramming it into a crawling infant. Security cameras captured the assaults.

The court emphasized in its sentencing decision that acts of violence and abuse against minors carry extreme severity, particularly when committed by someone entrusted with the child's care and welfare.

The judges noted that despite a clear trend toward harsher sentencing in such cases, daycare workers and caregivers continue to commit serious violent offenses against vulnerable young children. The court considered Sheinker's personal circumstances as detailed in the probation service report before imposing the seven-year active prison term, conditional imprisonment, and substantial compensation.

Attorney Ofir Pachima from the Central District Prosecutor's Office (Criminal) stated after sentencing: "Shelly Sheinker carried out these assaults and abuse systematically and cruelly, humiliating, degrading, exploiting her authority, and terrorizing helpless infants who cannot defend themselves or express in words what was done to them. While entrusted with their safety, she exploited their vulnerability and harmed them both physically and emotionally."

"The prosecution's position was to impose ten years' imprisonment to send a message that harming helpless children in a place that should be a safe and protected environment for them, and violating the trust parents place in those responsible for what is most precious to them, demands significant punishment and the full severity of the law."

"We will study the sentencing decision and consider whether to file an appeal. We salute the courageous parents who attended every hearing and whom we accompanied throughout the trial, and we hope that following this sentence, they will begin, together with their children, as much as possible, a process of healing and recovery."